The use of ozone in the treatment of dental caries is shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/712,611, which issued Sep. 24, 2002 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,566 entitled “Apparatus for the Treatment of Dental Caries.” U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,566 in its entirety, including the specification and drawings, is incorporated herein by reference. That patent discloses an apparatus for the treatment of dental caries which generally includes a source of oxidizing gas and a handpiece for delivering the gas to a tooth. A cup attached to the handpiece is provided for receiving the gas and exposing a selected area of the tooth to the gas. Such cup is a unitary formed member which includes a resilient edge for sealably engaging the tooth around the selected area to prevent escape of the gas therepast. All of the disclosed embodiments of the cups include cup chambers that subtend cup edges. The cups include walls that define the chamber and include first perimeters for sealably coupling the walls to the handpiece and second perimeters that provide for coupling the walls to the tooth and exposing the selected areas to gas circulated in the chambers.
However, it has been found that the cups taught in the prior art do not adequately provide both a secure but temporary attachment to the outlet of the handpiece as well as proper resiliency with respect to the portion of the cup applied to the tooth. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a cup for use with the handpiece which provides the proper rigidity desired to fit tightly around the outlet of the ozone dispensing handpiece as well as the flexibility desired for the cup to form around an uneven tooth to affect a vacuum seal before the unit dispenses ozone.